1. Field of the Invention
The present invention, in general, relates to towels and blankets, more particularly, to beach towels.
Most medical professionals will agree that during periods of sleep or when laying in a horizontal position, proper head and neck support is important in the prevention of back and or neck pain that can lead to a condition which requires medical attention.
Many people have adequate head and neck support in their homes most commonly in the form of a pillow used in concert with a bed or a sofa. When away from home such as during a vacation or day outing, a beach towel is the most common choice for utilization as a temporary ground cover when at a beach or a park.
Items used as a substitute for a pillow such as jackets, additional towels, and so forth produce results that do not provide optimum head and neck support.
Although beach towels that include a pillow are known, they have certain deficits. For example, certain prior art beach towels with pillows use pillows made of cotton fibers, open-cell foam, actual feathers, or feather-like materials that can provide a haven for mites, no-see-ums, and other organisms. Also prior art pillows do not provide adequate support at opposite ends of the pillow. This requires a user to place their head near the center of the pillow which limits usage to only one person. If two or more people try to use a prior art design some will need to rest their heads near the opposite ends which provide very little support, making the users feel uncomfortable.
Also prior art pillows can absorb moisture from the sand and they also tend to accumulate sand or dirt which can be very difficult to remove. The moisture and dirt can cause mold to form in the pillow. Even if a prior art pillow is removed the moisture inside the pillow cannot be readily extracted which promotes mold, mildew, and micro-organism growth.
Additionally, prior art designs are limited in size. There is a need for a larger beach towel with a built-in pillow that can accommodate three or more users at the same time. There is also a need to more quickly be able to remove a pillow from a prior art type of beach towel for drying or general cleaning.
Accordingly, there exists today a need for a beach towel with built-in pillow that helps to ameliorate the above-mentioned problems and difficulties as well as ameliorate those additional problems and difficulties as may be recited in the “OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION” or discussed elsewhere in the specification or which may otherwise exist or occur and that are not specifically mentioned herein.
As various embodiments of the instant invention help provide a more elegant solution to the various problems and difficulties as mentioned herein, or which may otherwise exist or occur and are not specifically mentioned herein, and by a showing that a similar benefit is not available by mere reliance upon the teachings of relevant prior art, the instant invention attests to its novelty. Therefore, by helping to provide a more elegant solution to various needs, some of which may be long-standing in nature, the instant invention further attests that the elements thereof, in combination as claimed, cannot be obvious in light of the teachings of the prior art to a person of ordinary skill and creativity.
Clearly, a beach towel with a built-in pillow which provides the aforementioned benefits would be useful and desirable.
2. Description of Prior Art
Beach towels with a built-in pillow, in general, are known. For example, the following patent documents describe various types of these devices, some of which may have some degree of relevance to the invention. Other patent documents listed below may not have any significant relevance to the invention. The inclusion of these patent documents is not an admission that their teachings anticipate any aspect of the invention. Rather, their inclusion is intended to present broad and diversified understanding regarding the current state of the art appertaining to either the field of the invention or possibly to other related or even distal fields of invention.    U.S. Pat. No. 7,513,001 to Leach, that issued on Apr. 7, 2009;    U.S. Pat. No. 6,721,973 to Cristiano, that issued on Apr. 20, 2004;    U.S. Pat. No. 5,987,667 to Haverly et al., that issued on Nov. 23, 1999;    U.S. Pat. No. 5,729,846 to Sullivan, that issued on Mar. 24, 1998;    U.S. Pat. No. 5,644,807 to Battistella, that issued on Jul. 8, 1997;    U.S. Pat. No. 5,629,071 to Feldman, that issued on May 13, 1997;    U.S. Pat. No. 5,457,829 to Elliott, that issued on Oct. 17, 1995;    U.S. Pat. No. 5,361,435 to Reeves, that issued on Nov. 8, 1994;    U.S. Pat. No. 5,199,120 to Holmes, that issued on Apr. 6, 1993;    U.S. Pat. No. 5,099,530 to Scott, that issued on Mar. 31, 1992;    U.S. Pat. No. 4,980,935 to Kazanowski et al., that issued on Jan. 1, 1991;    U.S. Pat. No. 4,546,507 to Weinstein, that issued on Oct. 15, 1985;    U.S. Pat. No. 4,231,125 to Tittl, that issued on Nov. 4, 1980;    U.S. Pat. No. 4,014,055 to Torres, that issued on Mar. 29, 1977;    U.S. Pat. No. 2,420,344 to Alexander, that issued on May 13, 1947;    U.S. Pat. No. 2,183,418 to Williams, that issued on Dec. 12, 1939;    U.S. Pat. No. 2,038,335 to Aronow, that issued on Apr. 21, 1936; and    U.S. Pat. No. 1,925,358 to Wittcoff, that issued on Sep. 5, 1933.
And including U.S. Design patents:    U.S. Design Pat. No. D580,694 to Horne, that issued on Nov. 18, 2008;    U.S. Design Pat. No. D392,146 to Gregg, that issued on Mar. 17, 1998;    U.S. Design Pat. No. D383,634 to Selph, that issued on Sep. 16, 1997;    U.S. Design Pat. No. D341,979 to Peters, that issued on Dec. 7, 1993;    U.S. Design Pat. No. D341,513 to Reeves, et al., that issued on Nov. 23, 1993; and    U.S. Design Pat. No. D258,035 to Fenwick, that issued on Jan. 27, 1981.
And including U.S. Patent Application Publications:    U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2009/0077746 to Wilson, that published on Mar. 26, 2009; and    U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0262634 to Gottlieb, that published on Dec. 1, 2005.
While the structural arrangements of the above described devices may, at first appearance, have similarities with the present invention, they differ in material respects. These differences, which will be described in more detail hereinafter, are essential for the effective use of the invention and which admit of the advantages that are not available with the prior devices.